10 footballers who will have nobody at their funeral

‘World-class’, ‘legend’ and ‘best ever’ are thrown around so easily nowadays, they’ve lost all meaning. We fail to recognise a player in form to a player of genuine talent – there’s a difference.

This means that it’s becoming a lot harder for players to truly be remembered, to go down in football history’s hall of fame – coupled with the fact that the average level of footballers is consistently growing; Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo being around, doesn’t help either.

Luka Modric

Better than Xavi, Iniesta, Scholes and whoever else you want to throw in there. How can the perfect midfielder simply be allowed to ride off into the sunset alone? Image Source: Twitter

Robert Lewandowski

The big Bayern Munich striker makes Sergio Aguero seem ineffective. But will struggle to break the utterly ridiculous cliche of 'well he didn't do it in the Premier League, did he?!' Image Source: Twitter

Robin van Persie

Lol RvP doesn't start for Fenerbahce now. Image Source: Getty

Sergio Ramos

Possesses everything you'd want in a defender - apart from the elegance of, say, a Paolo Maldini. And that prevents people from fully appreciating the talent of the Spanish international. Image Source: Twitter

Mesut Ozil

We may never see a better No.10 in our lifetime. However, pre-determined notions on the World Cup-winner, mean he's already been discounted by a lot of ignorant football fans. Image Source: Getty Images

Dani Alves

Nostalgic attachment means Cafu and Roberto Carlos form the full-back slots in the majority's 'Ultimate XIs'. However, the truth is, Dani Alves is better than both. Image Source: Twitter

Thomas Muller

You aren't going to remember a bloke who is brilliant, but you can't put your finger on why, are you? Image Source: Independent

Sergio Busquets

Luis Enrique dubbed the Spaniard as the 'best midfielder in the world' - but of course he'd say that. However, you'd be hard-pressed to argue against the Barcelona manager. But no one remembers a defensive-midfielder, do they? Image Source: YouTube

Carlos Tevez

59 Premier League goals in less than 100 starts for Manchester City. And then a similar goal-to-game ratio at Juventus. Throw in copious amounts of trophies and individual accolades, along the way, and you're looking at one of the game's most ruthlessly, efficient strikers. Image Source: elcomercio

Arjen Robben

Premier League ✅
La Liga ✅
Bundesliga ✅
Champions League ✅
Robben has been - and still is - the winger everyone wants (even though they don't realise it). Image Source: HD Wallpaper

Begs the question as to how footballers can make themselves memorable, around the late 90s, you would’ve bet your bottom dollar that a player of Michael Owen’s talent and impact was going to go down in football history. However, with every BT Sport appearance, that nail in the coffin gets smacked further and further in.

Or perhaps footballers don’t actually want to be remembered? Perhaps they’d rather ride off into the sunset at the age of 29 like Hidetoshi Nakata.